Mapping Terror in Zimbabwe: Political Violence & Elections 2008

Author:

Sokwanele

Date:

Jun 18, 2008

Comments:

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Mapping terror

On March 29th 2008 Zimbabweans went to the polls and changed history. For the first time since Independence in 1980, the Zanu PF party lost its majority in parliament and Robert Mugabe lost the Presidential vote. The regime immediately embarked on a campaign of violence and reprisal attacks against the civilian population. This map aims to reveal the scale of these attacks and it identifies perpetrator groups. In addition to this map, we ask that you visit our image gallery to see the images we have collated so far on incidents of political violence since March 29th 2008.

Legend

Zanu PF Youth Militia: Responsible for a great deal of the violence in Zimbabwe, the youth militia are also known locally as the 'Green Bombers'.

'War Veterans' These are ostensibly people who fought during Zimbabwe's liberation struggle; however, a lot of the 'war veterans' are clearly far too young to have been active in the military at that time. The 'war veterans' became well known during the farm invasions when the Zanu PF government claimed they had spontaneously decided to take the land for themselves. In fact, most of those events were orchestrated by the government.

Zanu PF supporters

Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA)

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) - uniformed: Members of the policeforce wearing a uniform.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) - plainclothes: Members of the policeforce in plainclothes.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) - riot police: The riot police.

Criminal Investigation Departement (CID)

Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)

Unknown: The victims are unsure of, or didn't say, or don't know who the perpetrator was.

How to Use the Map

Guidance on how to use this map plus background information on the data is available here.

Personal Testimonies

Click here for selected testimonies accompanying some of the cases represented on this map.